Coffee for Overachievers: A Comprehensive Guide to Better Brew

Coffee for Overachievers: A Comprehensive Guide to Better Brew

Coffee for Overachievers: A Comprehensive Guide to Better Brew

A new generation of java obsessives is ditching Starbucks and embracing the next level of joe. Here’s a guide to their world—from latte-art rivalries to brew tips, coffee trivia and more

Published
Feb. 13, 2019

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Raise a Cup to the Coffee Nerds

Illustration by Pete Gamlen

Raise a Cup to the Coffee Nerds

How the ancient beverage is evolving with the Internet Age.

IN THE INTERNET AGE, nerds have inherited the earth, using dork-dollar startup money to develop social media, smart devices, driverless cars, delivery robots and Tinder. Now they’re out to answer that key question of our time: “How do you take your coffee?”
Universities including Texas A&M, UC Davis and Vanderbilt have launched coffee programs with curricula that encompass coffee physiology, chemistry, sustainability and culture. Later this year, San Francisco’s famed Tartine Bakery will open the Coffee Lab, the first Specialty Coffee Association campus in the U.S. The Lab will offer courses and conduct experiments in processing, production and roasting, with plans to bring in experts in fermentation and the science of tasting.
Meanwhile, the coffee boom has exploded at the speed of tech, with aficionados creating apps to graph water-pouring over time. Others in search of the perfect, post-Starbucks cup are executing recipes with kettles, grinders and scales that sync via Bluetooth, while YouTubers and podcasters are expounding fresh wisdom online.
Even the quick and dirty approach is getting an upgrade. Maligned instant crystals have gone artisanal thanks to innovative brewing methods. And some coffee lovers who’ve shared warm moments with an array of hand grinders, frothers and trendy brewing vessels over the years are sick of waking early to precisely measure and crush beans for their first jolt of caffeine: They’re ready for an automated coffee machine.
But it won’t be that Mr. Coffee you encounter while waiting on an oil change. The next-level machines can mimic artisanal pour-overs, metering out water for a proper bloom. “Hand grinding is more work than anyone should do,” said Laila Ghambari, director of education for Stumptown Coffee Roasters. “I’ve made coffee every day for 15 years. I love the idea of pushing a button.”
With access to information, high-tech gear and diversely sourced beans, choices surrounding the quotidian beverage are infinite. In a celebration of bean nerdom, we’ve compiled trivia and myths, the best brew tools, java pop culture and a defense of Keurig in the face of coffee elitism.
—Eleanore Park

Test Your Bean

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Test Your Bean

A quick quiz for coffee lovers.

A true nerd can answer all four of these questions correctly.1. Which brewing device is in the Museum of Modern Art’s collection—a Chemex or the original Mr. Coffee?
2. What’s the name of the Seattle cafe in the sitcom “Frasier”—Cafe Nervosa or Central Perk?
3. Which song was crooned by the late Otis Redding—”Black Coffee” or
“Cigarettes and Coffee”?
4. Which of these is not a real international coffee drink—a Wiener mélange or a Bertardo Ole?
Answers: 1. Chemex; 2. Cafe Nervosa; 3. "Cigarettes and Coffee"; 4. Bertardo Ole

Stirring the Pot

F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal

Stirring the Pot

Innovative instant-coffee brands are catching up to the old guard.

Being “the coffee guy” in the group can be tough. Kent Sheridan was tired of lugging a second backpack full of brewing gear when camping just to make fireside joe. In 2016 he went into his lab, a tiny warehouse in Bend, Ore., to “bang his head against a wall” as he struggled to dial in a unique freeze-drying process that lyophilizes coffee while retaining its aromas and flavors. The result was Voilà—a finely powdered extract that dissolves in hot or cold water, leaves no sediment and holds its own against specialty coffees, elevating the sludgy instant brews of the 1980s. “The proof is in the cup,” he said. Competitors like Sudden Coffee and Swift Cup are also in the fray, making craft instant coffee a steamy new category. $16 for five packets, voila.coffee—Matthew Kitchen

Drink Up Some Knowledge

Drink Up Some Knowledge

A window into the caffeinated mind of Zachary Carlsen, co-author of ‘The New Rules of Coffee.’

I was introduced to an elevated coffee experience at: Murky Coffee in Washington, D.C. The barista there was so passionate about the coffee, the cooperatives and the flavors. I had never encountered that before and was so enamored that I got a job there the next day.
Manual and automatic-machine brewers are: both great for different reasons, the same way Spotify is super convenient on my iPhone, but I still like listening to vinyl. One isn’t necessarily better than the other, but there are certainly people who feel that way.
My desert island coffee gizmo is: a Ben Medansky mug because it’s beautiful. I love it and it magically makes coffee taste better.
My favorite coffee brewing technique is: using a Hario V60 pour-over dripper. The process is a little bit more holistic and it makes me sit and think for five minutes as I brew it.
The most underrated coffee tool is: a kitchen gram scale. I love the precise measurement one can provide. I use it for everything from morning coffee to making smoothies to baking cookies and cakes.
I often drink: two cups per day. Before 2018, I was drinking up to eight cups without thinking about it. But after taking a break from caffeine for 8 months, I’m much more intentional about the amount I drink.
I think decaf: gets a bad wrap. Brands like Swiss Water are doing a great job decaffeinating coffee while preserving the flavor.
Coffee’s 4th Wave will be: more diverse and inclusive, focusing on experiences that bring in customers who once felt unwelcome; and the farmers will be looked to as artisans.
—Edited from an interview by Eleanore Park

Ride the Wave

Everett Collection

Ride the Wave

A timeline of the three movements that defined American coffee culture.

1st Wave: By the end of WWII, brands like Maxwell House popularized weak, percolated coffee. As food writer M.F.K. Fisher penned in 1945, “Whether the label is green or scarlet the contents are safely alike, safely middling.”As Seen On “I Love Lucy”2nd Wave: In the early ’70s, proto-yuppies flocked to specialty roasters like Starbucks and Peet's Coffee, places away from work or home to sip espresso. In ensuing decades, cafes large and small succumbed to pleas for skim milk and flavored syrups. As Seen On “Friends”3rd Wave: By the early aughts, roasters like Intelligentsia in Chicago and Blue Bottle in San Francisco began focusing on relationships with farmers and direct trade. Trends shifted toward a lighter, brighter roast and latte art by pros who took time to really craft a beverage. As Seen On “Girls”—Eleanore ParkCorrections & Amplifications A previous version of this article incorrectly spelled Peet's Coffee as Pete's Coffee. (February 19, 2019)

In Defense of Keurig

Illustration by Pete Gamlen

In Defense of Keurig

One man’s pitch for giving the single-serving brand a place in the coffee pantheon.

I’ve been called a philistine. I’ve been told I have a child’s understanding of “real coffee.” Who cares? Give me a black cup of Keurig over blooming pour-overs any day. Whether I pop in a
K-Cup of Italian blend by Illy or Lavazza or a Dunkin dark roast, there’s no effort to pour or measure and no mess. The cost is minimal; the results, immediate and consistent thanks to precise automated settings; and those air-sealed packs stay fresh until my next fix. Roll out of bed, push a button, done. No, the pods aren’t great for the environment, but like Nickelback’s album sales or ratings for “The Big Bang Theory,” the brand has a command of the American populace: Keurig is the No. 1 home brewer in the U.S. according to NPD market research, sitting on about 20% of counters. And sales of single-serving coffee pods grew another 8% in 2018, according to IRI data. So if you want to fork over $8 so some guy who clearly combs his mustache can explain the benefits of oat milk while you wait, have at it. I’ve got somewhere to be.
—Matthew Kitchen

Read Your Way to Nerddom

F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal

Read Your Way to Nerddom

Books to initiate you into the corps of caffeine nuts, whether your entry-point is chemistry, history or general curiosity.

If You Like Chemistry: ‘Water for Coffee: Science Story Manual’ by Christopher H. Hendon and Maxwell Colonna-Dashwood
A Quick Distillation A barista champion and a computational chemist join forces to dive deep into the mineral makeup of water and its chemical interactions with coffee, including case studies from the industry. Come for the practical applications of chemistry in cafes; stay for the attractive infographics.
If You Like History: ‘Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How it Transformed our World’ by Mark Pendergras
A Quick Distillation: Provides a caffeine-fueled history of “the world’s most widely taken psychoactive drug,” from the drink’s discovery by an Ethiopian goat herder to the ramifications of the U.S. coffee trade on the global economy. Ideal reading if you ever wished your university had offered an anthropology course on Starbucks.
If You Like to Overachieve: ‘The Craft and Science of Coffee’ by Britta Folmer
A Quick Distillation: In this training course for uber-nerds, the author—the coffee-science manager at Nestlé Nespresso S.A.—takes an encyclopedic approach to imparting coffee wisdom. In its pages, you’ll explore the coffee plant and understand its genetic diversity and origin. Later chapters examine the “particles and particularities” of the grind. Filled with comprehensive research, this book bridges the know-how of academics, industry experts and interested hobbyists.
—Eleanore Park

Just Brew It

Jeff Hann

Just Brew It

Three international competitions hosted by World Coffee Events—and criteria for taking the title in each case.

3 Coffee Myths Based on Faulty Grounds

Illustration by Pete Gamlen

3 Coffee Myths Based on Faulty Grounds

Let us debunk a few common misconceptions about coffee.

Myth: Coffee is a bean.
Fact: The “bean” is actually the seed of a red, aromatic tropical fruit, known as a “coffee cherry.”
Myth: Stronger dark roasts have more caffeine than lighter roasts.
Fact: Several factors play into the caffeine level of a cup including bean density, the elevation it’s harvested at and how long it lived in the cherry.
Myth: Coffee is shelf-stable.
Fact: Sure, it’ll survive on a kitchen counter, but the flavors can go bland in just a couple of weeks. To slow this process, keep beans in a cool, dark place (no, not your freezer).

Buzzworthy Videos

Seattle Coffee Gear

Buzzworthy Videos

Three YouTube channels that go beyond the usual coffee talk.

1. James Hoffmann This world barista champion and author of “The World Atlas of Coffee” offers fun, unique techniques like making iced-filter coffee.
2. RealChrisBaca The founder of Cat & Cloud, a cafe in Santa Cruz, Calif., shares his experiences owning a small business and provides tutorials that offer more levity than the usual esoteric ones.
3. Seattle Coffee Gear Features daily machine reviews and focuses on a hodgepodge of unique recipes from “Bulletproof” coffee to Vietnamese egg coffee.
—Eleanore Park

Disclaimer

F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal

Disclaimer

The Wall Street Journal is not compensated by retailers listed in its articles as outlets for products. Listed retailers frequently are not the sole retail outlets.